Learning to Smile
by Ismeme
Summary: Rangiku is out patrolling one day, when a large Hollow attacks. It seems like certain death until one Gin Ichimaru comes to save the day. But things don't exactly go his way, and it takes the help of an arch enemy to save her. One shot, Gin/Rangiku


Author's Note: Wow, another one shot? Looks like it. This time I'm trying Gin and Rangiku, but would appreciate it if anyone checked out my other ones. This didn't turn out quite the way I hoped, but close enough. Anyways, review, blah blah blah, and enjoy.

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Rangiku hopped down from the building she had been patrolling on, having seen no Hollows coming. Her partner, a scrawny, perverted second year was lounging at the bottom and perked up when she came down, eyes trained firmly on her chest. There was no point in bothering to punch him again, she was pretty sure that if she did it one more time he wouldn't even be able to spell his name anymore. Like all the other academy students, they had been assigned a special area to patrol in order to prepare them for when they joined the Gotei 13. Of course, since Rangiku had only been in the academy a few months, each first year was given a second year to 'help them out'. It almost figures that she be paired with some perverted boy. Sighing, Rangiku took a seat a safe distance away from her partner.

"See anything interesting?" Her partner asked in a poor seductive tone.

"No." Was her curt response. She could handle guys ogling her occasionally, but he was plain creepy. Luckily she grew up the creepster himself Gin Ichimaru, or she might have knocked him clean out.

"Oh, that's good. If you spot anything, don't be afraid to call me." He said, flexing his none existent muscles. _Of course I'll call you, so then I'll have something to feed to the Hollows. _Rangiku chuckled to herself. That idea perked up her mood just the slightest.

For several moments, they just sat there in silence. Her partner would occasionally sneak peaks, but overall, everything was quiet. Too quiet. Rangiku sat up and stretched her senses, trying to spot where the other students were. Nothing. She zoned in as much as she could, just like Gin taught her, but still, nothing. Standing up, Rangiku scanned the area to see if she could spot anything out of the ordinary. Everything was peaceful. Something was wrong.

"Hey, have you heard anything from the other students?" Rangiku asked.

"No, not since we were assigned to our areas. Why?" She didn't answer him, instead peeling her eyes for anything suspicious.

"Something's wrong." She could feel it. Something was most definitely not right.

Nothing popped up, so she took a seat again. Maybe she was just being paranoid. She forced the odd feeling off her mind, instead focusing on another topic. It was only thanks to her paranoia that she was able to spot the claw in time.

It shot at them at a rapid speed, giving Rangiku just enough time to grab her partner and dodge, with it missing her by less then a foot. There was no time to panic, as another one was shot at them less than a second later. This time, instead of dodging, Rangiku put up a small shield to block the attack, it shattered on impact, as expected on one with little experience in Kido, and threw both of them back into the building. Rangiku coughed and shoved the pieces of concrete off of her. Her first reaction was to check herself for injuries, before moving on to her partner. He was out cold, but still breathing, which was both bad and good. Good, because he wasn't dead, and bad, because now her only choice was to stay and fight or run and be branded a coward. There was no doubt about it. She had to choose the first one.

Through the large gap in the wall, she could see a hideous monster emerge from behind one of the many skyscrapers that occupied their area. It looked like an oversized scorpion, something right out of a horror movie. It scanned the area with it's tiny eyes, finally landing on her. She swallowed the lump that built in her throat. There was no turning back now. Pulling out her sword, she stepped out of the rubble, ready to face her no doubt imminent death.

The Hollow noticed her small figure crawl out the building, and didn't hesitate in launching another claw her way. She dodged just in time for it to nick her thigh. Taking a deep breath, she forced her thoughts to slow down. Gin had taught her a lot about the Shinigami arts, and now it was time to apply those lessons. Taking another deep breath, she charged at the large Hollow, the fear flying out of her as she got closer.

Maybe she could do this. She was less than several yards away now, and she could almost smell the ungodly stench that came off the creature. Her sword was held high in front of her, and she was getting closer and closer now. But it took her less than a second to realize that this was a big mistake. It must have purposely let her through, because the moment she was less than a foot from it's unprotected belly, it's giant claw swung down and threw her flying through the air.

Her sword dropped noiselessly to the ground and the breath was knocked out of her. Her body hurtled towards a nearby building, crashing through the concrete walls and finally settling within the mounds of rumble. Funny thing was, nothing hurt. At all. She didn't need to be a medical expert to know that wasn't a good sign. The dust cleared to revealed the Hollow completely unharmed, while she barely had any sensation left in her body. She forced her arms to cooperate and lift her. Now came the pain. It shot through her and tore through every fiber, and it took all her will power not to scream. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction.

There was nothing left to do. She was broken, both in will and in body, with no weapon and no power to even stand back up. The only thing she could do now was sit there and hope death came quickly.

The Hollow took it's sweet time approaching. It brought it's large, gnarled claw up and Rangiku closed her eyes.

"Shoot to Kill, _Shinso._" A long silver blade tore through the large Hollow, reducing it to nothing it less than a second. There was no roar or cry as it shattered and turned to nothing, having not even anticipated the sudden attack. Rangiku opened her eyes and stared at the person in front of her in awe. She could make out white hair and pale skin, placed on a tall muscular body. Gin. He had saved her.

"G-gin?" She stumbled. Everything had happened so quickly, she didn't know how to keep up with it. He turned his head and gave her his usual sly grin.

"Eh, Rangiku, you okay? Looks like you took quite a hit there." His tone was playful, as usual, but if she didn't know any better she'd say she detected a hint of worry underneath.

"I...don't know." There was no point in lying.

"Come on. Let's take you back to the Squad 4 barracks. I'm sure they'll be so excited to see me." He held out a hand, which she shakily took, hauling her back to her feet. She only managed to stay up for a second, before her knees buckled and gave out beneath her. Luckily, unlike so many times before, he was there to catch her.

"Whoa! Don't die on me now. Then all that work would be for nothing." She didn't respond, instead burying her head in his neck. He smelled nice, like fresh cherries. For a moment, just a moment, his grin faltered. She never knew it, but he loved her more than she would ever know.

"Come on, let's get you back." He picked her up bridal style, taking off in a flash back towards the Seireitei. Before he could get too far, she lifted her head and interrupted his musings.

"Wait." He stopped and gave her a curious look. "My partner...he's injured..." She pointed to one of the collapsed buildings, and Gin could just make out a sunken body among the ruin.

He didn't want to let her go, especially considering the condition she was in, but he knew he'd regret it later if he just left the poor kid. Setting Rangiku down, he took off for the ruined building, moving pieces in order to recover the damaged academy student.

"Ughhhhh..." He complained as Gin hauled him out and set him on the ground by Rangiku. He couldn't carry them both back, and despite how much he just wanted to leave the boy in the dust, he still had a duty. Why weren't the others here by now? Even with all the injured students, you'd think someone would show up. The answer soon came when a deep roar tore through the air.

Gin didn't even have time to think. Spinning on his heel, he delivered a sharp blow to the three or so Hollows that had been unlucky enough to cross his path. Sadly, it couldn't end that simply, as more Hollows crawled out from behind buildings and began to slowly surround them. Gin took them out by the dozens, but it seemed that each one was replaced by two more. He was slowly getting overwhelmed, a feeling he was not fond of. Several were getting dangerously close to Rangiku and her panicky partner, and he knew he to think up something quick, or face the consequences.

Luck was not on his side today. There are many people he would have liked to see in that moment, but Sosuke Aizen was not one of them. Said man waltzed graciously out of the swarm of Hollow, dozens falling to his feet, leaving nothing behind. He looked completely unaffected by the swarms, looking almost amused at their attempts to hurt him. Gin swallowed his frown and pretended to look pleased by the lieutenant's arrival.

"Looks like you've got quite the party going, Gin. Mind if I join?" Aizen gave a charming smile, which Gin returned with a crafty grin. It was nothing out of their usual exchange, even in the heat of battle they were nothing if not formal. Gin silently wondered if Aizen realized just how much he wanted to rip out his guts.

"Be my guest." Aizen smiled and drew his sword, taking out a dozen or so Hollows within moments. Together, they quickly thinned the crowd, and the remaining ones backed away, some even getting the smarts to run the hell away. But even with the progress they were making, things weren't looking good. Rangiku coughed up blood and her partner looked ready to pass out. Gin eyed them, and as expected, Aizen noticed.

"Take her back to the barracks. I can handle the crowd." Gin looked slightly shocked for a moment, before quickly recovering. Almost as if reading his mind, Aizen added, "And I'll take care of the boy."

Gin didn't say anything, instead simply nodding and flashing over to were the two students were positioned, scooping up Rangiku in his arms and giving one last look to the scene. Despite how much he hated Aizen, just this one time, he was grateful for his presence. In a flash, he disappeared in the direction of the Seireitei, leaving behind the deceiving lieutenant and the injured second year.

Rangiku stirred in his arms. She fought off sleep as best she could, and Gin wrapped his arms tighter around her, despite the pain it caused. At this point, the pain was worth just feeling safe.

"Gin...?" Rangiku mumbled against his neck. Her breath tickled against his skin, and he could hear the suffering in her tone.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Thank you." He didn't say anything, instead taken off guard by her sudden words. He slowed down just the slightest and loosened his grin just a little.

"You don't need to thank me." For one the first times in his life, he spoke what was on his heart. She didn't need to thank him for anything. Because he would always be there for her, no matter what.

She's the reason he did everything he did. Why he plotted with a horrible man, why he watched his words so carefully, why he tried so hard to improve at everything. Ever since that day in the desert, when those big blue eyes turned on him, he knew he was caught. There was no escaping it. He was hers, forever.

And for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Gin felt a genuine smile cross his lips.


End file.
